Technical Assistant

Northern Plains organizes Montana citizens to protect our water quality, family farms and ranches, and unique quality of life.

Position Overview:

While each employee at Northern Plains has individual work assignments, the entire staff works together as a team to accomplish the goals set by the Board of Directors.  The position of Technical Assistant, although part-time, is an integral part of this team as this person facilitates the technical needs of all other staff members so that they are able to accomplish their assignments.  The Technical Assistant must be able to accept instructions for a variety of tasks and accomplish those tasks accurately and in a timely manner.   The Technical Assistant is supervised by the Comptroller.

Responsibilities:

1) The Technical Assistant is responsible for a variety of office tasks.  Duties may include:

• Entering data entry into our database. (Salesforce.com);
• Regularly pulling lists and creating campaigns within the database.
• Offering technical assistance to staff as it occurs (ie: troubleshooting formatting issues, creating formulas in Excel, and basic information technologies assistance);
• Creating documents in Excel (as requested and instructed by other staff);
• Pulling Excel reports from our database;
• Typing up meeting decisions from notes;
• Filling in at the reception desk to ensure that the front desk is covered when the Office Manager is away;
• Assembling materials, news articles and other documents as outreach packets of information;
• Maintaining our Google Apps account;
• Opening mail with the Office Manager (NOTE: this task requires specific training so that the Technical Assistant understands how different kinds of mail are dealt with);
• Occasional online research as assigned;
• Other technical tasks as assigned.

2) The Technical Assistant, as all other staff, is responsible for performing the administrative tasks necessary to accomplish his or her job.  This includes, but is not limited to:

• Filling out monthly time sheets and other office paperwork, as appropriate (e.g., requests for leave, sick leave, reimbursements);
• Attending staff meetings and other meetings and events as directed;
• Filing tasks (NOTE: this task requires the Technical Assistant to follow specific instructions from the staff person making the filing request), which can include:
• General office communications;
• Returning items used at meetings or on "road trips" to their proper location;
• Straightening out the inventory;
• Making turn-out calls for events, meetings, and other functions;
• Answering telephones;
• Assisting the Office Manager in preparing bulk mailings, including working with volunteers who help with these mailings.

3) The Technical Assistant is responsible for other key aspects of internal fundraising and membership retention. Duties include:

• Taking on additional assignments when other staff persons are absent and as requested;
• Performing data entry into the database;
• Creating and mailing thank-you letters to our donors.

Qualifications:

The Technical Assistant must be highly organized and detail-oriented.  He or she must have excellent "people skills."  He or she is expected to work with routine office equipment (computers, database, photocopiers, etc.) and be able to handle paperwork tasks with accuracy.  He or she must be proficient with the software systems used by office staff, which currently includes (but is not limited to) Microsoft Office (particularly Word and Excel).  This person must also be comfortable with databases, and have some understanding of websites and html code. He or she must be willing and able to take direction and then work independently, and must be able to manage his/her time so that tasks will be completed on time.

Work Hours: 20 hours per week (4 hour shift x 5 days). Office is open Monday-Friday, 8:30-5:30.  Work shift in middle portion of day would be ideal.

Compensation: $9-$11 per hour, DOE. After one month on the job, this position will begin to accrue paid time off and sick leave, at the rate of 10 paid shifts off per year, and 5 shifts of paid sick leave per year. 8 paid holidays per year.

To Apply:

To apply, please send:

1. Cover letter (tell us why you want the position)
2. Resume
3. Contact information for 3 references

Paula Berg
Northern Plains Resource Council
220 S. 27th Street,  Suite A
Billings, MT 59101